New Delhi: In another shocker to Pakistan men’s cricket team, the Mohammad Rizwan-led unit has been fined 5 per cent of their match fee for failing to maintain the slow over-rate in the opening encounter of the ICC Champions Trophy against New Zealand on Wednesday.
Andy Pycroft of the Emirates ICC Elite Panel of Match Referees imposed the sanction as Pakistan fell one over short from the stipulated time period. Pakistan skipper Rizwan has accepted the sanction and also pleaded guilty to the offence.
The charge was levelled by match officials comprising on-field umpires Richard Kettleborough and third umpire Sharfudoula, and fourth umpire Joel Wilson after New Zealand thumped the tournament hosts by 60 runs in Karachi.
Impact on Pakistan’s ICC Champions Trophy campaign
This will exacerbate Pakistan’s campaign after the team couldn’t mark a promising start in front of the raucous home fans as the country has been hosting an ICC cricket event for the first time in three decades.
After opting to bowl first at the National Stadium, Shaheen Afridi and Co were futile against a buoyant New Zealand who came all guns blazing to put their opponents under the pressure. Powered by the flamboyance of opener Will Young (107) and the sumptuous innings of Tom Latham (118*), the Black Caps posted a formidable score of 320 for 5 in the first innings.
Pakistan didn’t see any special contributions with Babar Azam playing a sluggish knock followed by late efforts of Salman Ali Agha (42 runs from 28 balls) and Khushdil Shah (69 runs from 49 balls). William O’Rourke (3 for 47) and skipper Mitchell Santner (3 for 66) were clinical were the ball to defend the score successfully.
The match fine will be another dent for the team just after it received the news of batter Fakhar Zaman being ruled out of the remaining part of the tournament. The left-handed batter sustained an oblique injury in the first match and will be replaced by Imam-ul-Haq.
Pakistan’s men’s cricket team was fined 5% of their match fee for a slow over-rate in their opening ICC Champions Trophy match against New Zealand. Captain Rizwan accepted the sanction. The slow over-rate adds to the pressure on the team’s already struggling campaign. Cricket Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
